1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a geothermal energy utilization technique, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reactor design technique for realizing a new chemical reaction process under the ground for the purpose of synthesizing hot water, manufacturing fuel or extracting resources by effectively utilizing geothermal energy abundant in Japan.
2. Related Art Statement
In prior geothermal energy utilization, it was rare to directly utilize geothermal energy under the ground, but it was common to utilize geothermal energy as hot water. As a utilization method on the surface of the earth, there is generation of electric power with the use of steam, and as a direct utilization method hot water is used for such uses as for a hot house, local heating, drying equipment, snow melting and the like (see Japanese Patent No. 1,134,850 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 57-27,282), Japanese Patent No. 1,231,142 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 56-51,274)).
In such prior type geothermal energy utilization, there are many problems such as large energy loss during transfer to the surface of the earth, and a heat insulating provision is inevitable, requiring post-treatments, for example, hot water taken out of the ground is necessary to be led back underground after waste water treatment, and an increase in expenses is unavoidable.
On the other hand, a high temperature, high pressure reactor such as an autoclave used for each kind of material synthesis utilizes heat generated by electric power and is low in thermal efficiency, and also has a difficult point in synthesis for realization, viewed from production cost because it is an energy consumption type, and further design and operational conditions are severe for maintenance requirements, and moreover, there is required a high pressure pump for inserting a reaction material. These drawbacks are viewed as a normal of course.
In a prior technique, there has not been known any example of direct synthetic reaction device under the ground using geothermal energy.